DUTCH open-access operator GoVolta has opened ticket sales for its Amsterdam - Paris service which will start running on December 14.
Presenting itself as a budget operator, GoVolta is offering fares that start at €19 for a single journey between the Netherlands and France, and €10 for a journey from the Netherlands to Belgium or between Belgium and France. A promotional fare of €1 is being offered for those making early bookings for the first train.
The service runs once a day in each direction, departing Amsterdam Central at 07.46 and calling at Haarlem, The Hague Hollands Spoor, Rotterdam Central, Lage Zwaluwe and Roosendaal in the Netherlands. In Belgium, the new service calls at Antwerp Central, where the train reverses and locomotives are changed, and at Ghent Sint-Pieters. The train calls at Arras and Longueau near Amiens in France, before arriving at Paris Nord at 14.54.
The northbound service leaves Paris at 15.49 to arrive in Amsterdam Central at 23.29. As with GoVolta’s Amsterdam - Berlin service, traction is provided by Train Charter Services (TCS) of the Netherlands, which is licensed to operate in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany.
European Sleeper changes
Separately, Dutch overnight train operator European Sleeper has abandoned plans for a direct service between Amsterdam Central and Milan due to a lack of capacity in the Cologne area of Germany. The train was to be combined with the Brussels - Milan service in Cologne, but there is no capacity available for joining and splitting the trains here, a complex process that raises the risk of delay.
The Brussels - Milan service is due to start operating three times a week on September 9, routed via Liège Guillemins, Aachen main station, Cologne and Zürich. In order to serve the Dutch market, from the timetable change on December 13 it will run via Antwerp Central, Breda and Eindhoven.
